Ile de France Location Expo: Record Participation

Fourth edition doubles exhibition space and now includes French studios

Over 90 exhibitors and between 1,500 and 2,500 participants – including producers, directors, line producers, and DPs – are expected to attend the 4th Ile de France Location Expo.

This year, the location show is incorporated within the 1st edition of the three-week umbrella event, Paris Images Trade Show.

Location Expo began as a showcase exclusively for the Ile de France region but has progressively expanded over the last four years to include locations from throughout France.

“The first edition of Location Expo focused on the prime locations in the region, such as Versailles, the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay – the jewels of the crown,” explains Olivier-Rene Veillon, exec director of the Ile de France Film Commission.

“After the first edition, we were contacted by other film commissions who said it would be very useful to show their locations, and it’s progressively expanded from there.”

The event now constitutes one of Europe’s premier location shows.

“Top film festivals, such as Cannes, have film commissions and location reps attending,” says Franck Priot, COO of Film France. “But their presence is mixed up with the other activities. This is one of the largest events in Europe that’s exclusively dedicated to locations.”

Location Expo is organized by the Ile de France Film Commission, in conjunction with the French Cinematographers Association (AFC), IDIFF, L’Industrie du reve, the CST, the French Technicians Union (FICAM) and Film France, with support from the CNC.

The event aims to link French and foreign filmmakers to local film commissions, regional incentives, production locations, and core business and support services.

The number of foreign guests is limited, but this year the Ile de France Film Commission has invited two delegations – from the U.K. and Germany – in particular professionals linked to key co-producers with France.

“We admire the work of our partner Film London in this field, and recognize that we need a more global initiative to promote our locations,” explains Veillon. “We need to showcase all our assets in the same market.”

Each edition of Location Expo is purposely organized in a different location in order to highlight the breadth of the Ile de France region.

Following on from the previous editions – hosted in the Ile-de-France Regional Council, the Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris and the Parc de la Villette – this year’s edition will double its exhibition space, by occupying the new exhibition centre, the Docks de Paris – City of Fashion and Design, on the banks of the River Seine, near Austerlitz train station.

One of the key goals is to introduce visitors to new locations or unusual facets of well-known locations.

The 91 exhibitors attending the event include 40 locations in the Ile-de-France region, 10 national organizations, 20 regional film commissions, and 7 professional associations.

In addition to obvious heritage sites, other key exhibitors include transport infrastructures such as Paris Airport, Europe’s second biggest airport, Air France and the Paris Metro.

One of the key novelties of this year’s edition is that studios will also be attending, including the Studios de Paris, the Studios d’Epinay and the Studios Kremlin.

Special sessions planned during the two-day event include a presentation of a recent study by the Ecoprod initiative, dedicated to reducing the carbon footprint of film productions, two sessions for new talent aiming to break into the industry, organized by the Pole d’Emploi, and a pitching session called “One Book, One Place,” aimed at producers, directors and writers, organized by leading French publishing company Gallimard.

The event also includes the closing evening of the Paris Images Trade Show.